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A Springfield man was sentenced for murdering his wife. It wasn’t the first time.
Four decades after he was convicted of murdering his wife, Kenneth Robson pleaded guilty to killing another spouse.
A Springfield man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing his wife, a slaying that came 40 years after he was convicted of murdering a previous spouse.
Kenneth Robson, 68, recently pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 45-year-old Quitiza Holmes, the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office said. He’s been ordered committed to the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley.
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According to prosecutors, Robson called 911 shortly before 5 a.m. on April 30, 2024, and told dispatchers he needed an ambulance because “he hit his wife with a hammer and she might be dead.” He then exited the building and surrendered to police.
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Inside, officers found a blood-stained hammer and Holmes lying face down nearby in a pool of blood with “catastrophic” head injuries and apparent defensive wounds, the DA’s office said. Holmes was rushed to Baystate Medical Center, where she remained hospitalized before succumbing to her injuries weeks later.
Prosecutors said Robson made several “spontaneous” statements to authorities investigating Holmes’s death, “claiming he had ingested drugs that were not what he expected, and blaming his actions on their effects.”
Four decades earlier, Robson was convicted of murdering his then-wife Joan Cusson in 1984. According to the DA’s office, Robson received a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison for killing Cusson. The Massachusetts Department of Correction confirmed he was released in May 1995.
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The DA’s office said members of Cusson’s family attended court proceedings in the Holmes case and “voiced outrage that Robson had been released from prison and allowed the opportunity to commit another violent act, underscoring their enduring grief and frustration.”
“This was a brutal and senseless attack that ended the life of Quitiza Holmes, a woman who should still be with her family and community today,” Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said in a statement. “I want to express my deepest condolences to her loved ones, and I thank the Springfield Police Department and our prosecutors for their work in holding this defendant accountable.”
With the recent sentencing, he added, Robson “will spend the remainder of his life in prison and will never again have the opportunity to harm another person.”
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